Donald Trump (very briefly) addresses bombs targeting people on his enemies list

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday October 24, 2018 · 11:37 AM PDT

2018/10/24 · 11:37

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 03: U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House April 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. Marking their 100th anniversary of their post-World War I independence from Russia, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite participated in the United States-Baltic Summit with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Donald Trump was already scheduled to speak at an opioid event on Wednesday afternoon, so it would have been difficult for him to get out of speaking about the series of bombs that have been sent to prominent Democrats and to CNN, all favorite targets of his vitriol. But while Trump dutifully read a statement condemning the attacks, everything else about the event conveyed how secondary such a statement was.

Rather than speaking immediately, Trump was preceded by his wife Melania, who said, “We cannot tolerate those cowardly attacks and I strongly condemn those who choose violence,” thanking law enforcement for thwarting the attacks, then moving on to opioids after the briefest possible recognition of a series of bombs targeting high-profile Democrats and CNN.

Donald then took the podium with his “keep applauding” face, praised his wife’s hard work and language skills, thanked Karen Pence for her presence, and only then began reading obviously prepared remarks on the bombs. “The safety of the American people is my highest and absolute priority,” he said. “A major federal investigation is now underway. The full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice.”

“In these times we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear, strong unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.” After a break for applause, he appeared to ad lib, saying “That’s a very bipartisan statement, I can tell you from both sides, we both agree on that.”

“We’re extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning and we will get to the bottom of it,” Trump said. Then, having spent a whopping two minutes and eight seconds on a series of bombs sent to former presidents, Cabinet officials, a member of Congress, and a television network, he moved on to opioids. In a few hours, he’ll be leaving for another political rally. Will it feature a “lock her up” chant?

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